Police drill scares scanner listeners

Published: Wednesday, March 19, 2014 at 05:41 PM.

Some Alamance County residents listening to police scanners Tuesday and Wednesday were in for a scare after hearing reports of a shooter at a local business — but it was only a drill.

While conducting an exercise to screen candidates for a lieutenant position, the Burlington Police Department used radio communications to simulate a scenario in which a shooter was in Tapco , located on South Church Street in Burlington. According to Assistant Chief Chris Verdeck, the channel was “very infrequently used,” that they weren’t aware the public could hear.

The police department, Tapco, and employees at Tapco received calls from concerned people who had heard about a shooter, and word traveled fast.

A representative from Tapco said the office received some calls from other local businesses that had heard about a shooter and were concerned, and that employees received calls on their cellphones from family members and others.

Verdeck said none of the training took place at Tapco , but that they used the company’s name for the fake scenario, in which a lieutenant candidate had to coordinate other emergency response efforts.

“We set up an active shooter scenario, and the candidate had to deal with getting people in place and calling in additional resources as needed,” Verdeck said. “We wanted to raise the stress level to make sure we’re picking the right person for the job.”

He said after calls started coming in, the department sent an officer to the business to explain the situation, in addition to calling Tapco’s president.

Verdeck said the department’s everyday radio communications are public, but state law allows law enforcement to encrypt communications for training exercises or “covert investigations,” for example.

Reader comments posted to this article may be published in our print edition. All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be re-published
without permission. Links are encouraged.

Some Alamance County residents listening to police scanners Tuesday and Wednesday were in for a scare after hearing reports of a shooter at a local business — but it was only a drill.

While conducting an exercise to screen candidates for a lieutenant position, the Burlington Police Department used radio communications to simulate a scenario in which a shooter was in Tapco , located on South Church Street in Burlington. According to Assistant Chief Chris Verdeck, the channel was “very infrequently used,” that they weren’t aware the public could hear.

The police department, Tapco, and employees at Tapco received calls from concerned people who had heard about a shooter, and word traveled fast.

A representative from Tapco said the office received some calls from other local businesses that had heard about a shooter and were concerned, and that employees received calls on their cellphones from family members and others.

Verdeck said none of the training took place at Tapco , but that they used the company’s name for the fake scenario, in which a lieutenant candidate had to coordinate other emergency response efforts.

“We set up an active shooter scenario, and the candidate had to deal with getting people in place and calling in additional resources as needed,” Verdeck said. “We wanted to raise the stress level to make sure we’re picking the right person for the job.”

He said after calls started coming in, the department sent an officer to the business to explain the situation, in addition to calling Tapco’s president.

Verdeck said the department’s everyday radio communications are public, but state law allows law enforcement to encrypt communications for training exercises or “covert investigations,” for example.